Desmond Tutu, a veteran of South Africa’s struggle against white minority rule and an advocate of Palestinian rights, has died aged 90, the presidency says.
Dr. Ramphela Mamphele, the acting chairperson of the Desmond Tutu IP Trust, announced his death on behalf of the Tutu family on Sunday but did not give details on the cause of death.
Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and in recent years he was hospitalized on several occasions to treat infections associated with his cancer treatment.
“Ultimately, at the age of 90, he died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town this morning,” she said in a statement.
In 1984 Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to apartheid. A decade later, he witnessed the ends of that regime and he chaired a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up to unearth atrocities committed during those dark days.
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The small-statured Tutu, who had largely faded from public life in recent years, was remembered for his easy humor and characteristic smile — and above all his tireless fight against injustices of all colors.
“The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas issued a statement, paying tribute to the iconic leader.
“Our Palestinian people lost a strong supporter of their march towards freedom and independence. Father Desmond Tutu spent his entire life struggling against racism and defending human rights and especially on the Palestinian land,” it said.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation called Tutu “an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd.”
“He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing,” the organization said in a statement.
Tutu was born in the small town of Klerksdorp, west of Johannesburg, on October 7, 1931, to a domestic worker and a school teacher.
He trained as a teacher before anger at the inferior education system set up for black children prompted him to become a priest.
He lived for a while in Britain, where, he recalled, he would needlessly ask for directions just to be called “Sir” by a white policeman.
